south—east of england, and that the overall cases have increased by more than 50%. a substantial increase in over the period december. if ijust concentrate now on the south—east, east and londonl see a picture which i think begins to link into the new virus variant. next slide, please. so this is hospital admissions per day in london, east of england and the south—east from nhs data from september through to now. you can see a gradual increase in the number of hospital admissions per day, and you can see very sharp during december. this virus has taken off, it is moving fast, and it is leading inevitably to a sharp increase in hospital admissions. next slide, please. if we now look just at the areas that are moving into tier 4, as the prime minister has just said, which is areas in london, the south—east and the east, and look at the number of cases, the case rate against time, but you can see is that the number of cases increase or in the case rate increases dramatically. if you look at the dotted line that is what england as a whole. case rate is increasing took november, decreasing during lockdown and increasing again. but if you look at the solid blue line, which is londo

the situation in the uk is precarious in many parts already, particularly at the south—east london. alreadye south-east london. areas under the tightest restrictions now include leicester, the north—eastern greater manchester. in total, just under 80% of the population in england. shropshire, devon and cornwall amongst those moving up cornwall amongst those moving up into tier three. with no region now in tier two, only 2000 residents on the aisles remain in the first tier. these are people in northern ireland, wales and scotland living the toughest restrictions stop for those facing tier four for the first time, there is some unhappiness. it is completely ridiculous they keep locking us in unlocking us out and going back and forth. they need to be more organised and what they do and figure out what's going on. it's not ideal for us but i think that is important and people need to follow and just be there because there are more important things like the hospitals and patients who are suffering. i haven't had the university experience for one, i turned 18 so i can't really do normal things a

the reason for that is that if you look at the south—east, look at the east of england and at london,are not absolutely exact but pretty accurate, that imply that in the south—east, 43% of the virus is now this new variant. in the east of england it is 59% and in london at 62%. the numbers may vary slightly but those numbers are broadly right and those have gone up very, very fa st over and those have gone up very, very fast over the last few weeks. so this has really gone incredibly quickly. they are much lower in other areas of the country. looking at the racing increase in hospitalisations with the numbers of people in hospital across the country in areas where this is very common seeing rates increasingly beat 36% in the east of england, 34% in london and 28% in the south—east and these are the areas which have significant numbers of this new variant. if you go to say the north we st variant. if you go to say the north west and north east of yorkshire in these areas we have had no increase in hospitalisations, they are managing to keep things down in tier 3and managing to keep thi

what i'm picking up is that there is particular concern about the rights of the virus in london and the south—easts in london and the south—east. boris johnson yesterday said that the rates of the virus we re said that the rates of the virus were worrying. notably, he did not rule out the possibility of a third national lockdown for england. we know, after christmas, wales and northern ireland have already chosen to do that. these words from chris whitty as well that we have had in the last hour. saying that they now consider this new strain to be spreading more quickly. sol consider this new strain to be spreading more quickly. so i think thatis spreading more quickly. so i think that is likely to be a focus. that might be the problem, what solution are they going to come two days before there is set to be this relaxation of the rules for christmas? up to three households able to mix. it is clear across the uk that is not what people should have as a target. they should still avoid longer christmas festivities. but clearly this idea of travel restrictions we know it was discussed last night in a

infections all schools in greenwich told to close from tomorrow as coronavirus rates in the south east londongh reach the highest level since march. police in lincolnshire have arrested two teenagers on suspicion of murder after the discovery a school boy's body. and, how are trips to see santa changing, as we prepare to celebrate christmas in a pandemic? we'll be finding out at eight—thirty in the travel show. good evening and welcome to bbc news. the brexit trade talks will continue beyond the deadline set for today — after the uk and the eu agreed their negotiators should keep talking. major issues are still unresolved but after a telephone call this morning — boris johnson and ursula von der leyen they said they would ‘go the extra mile‘. the prime minister repeated that a no—deal scenario was most likely. our political correspondent, iain watson, reports. are there still barriers in the way of a trade deal with brussels? today the latest deadline was discarded. but the prime minister says some distance still remains between the two sides. as things stand, i'm afraid we are still very far

all previous tier 3 areas in the south east and the east of england — including london, kent and most being asked to stay at home, non—essentialshops have been closed, along with gyms, beauty salons and hairdressers. there will be no ‘christmas bubbles', and household mixing is restricted to meeting one person in an open public space. christmas rules have been changed in the rest of england, where the planned bubbles can now gather only on christmas day. all of wales has gone into lockdown, with restrictions easing only for christmas day. that will also be the case in scotland and be followed by the highest level of restrictions for mainland scotland from boxing day. all travel to the rest of the uk is banned for the festive season. northern ireland had already announced a new lockdown, coming in from the 26th of december. 0urfirst report is from our political correspondent, nick eardley. what a difference a day can make. london‘s 0xford what a difference a day can make. london‘s oxford street, normally one of the busiest for shopping in europe, deserted today as part of england enter

let's recap on the very significant changes that have been announced for christmas and london and the south easton people. the prime minister said the new variant of the virus has led to an alarming spread of covid—i9 across the south east, east of england and london. he said it was 70% more transmissible than the original virus. so the upshot is that the planned relaxation of coronavirus rules for christmas has been scrapped for those affected areas. and in other parts of england, the gathering of three households for the feastive season, can now only take place christmas day. from midnight tonight, the tightest restrictions will be part of a new tier 4 category, similar to the last national lockdown in november, and it will affect areas such as kent, essex, bedfordshire, buckinghamshire and all 32 boroughs of london. people will be advised not to travel into or out of tier 4 areas, and the restrictions come in from midnight tonight. in tier 4 — a stay at home order will be issued to residents — although those who have to travel for education or work may continue to do so. social mixing will be

let's recap on the very significant changes that have been announced for christmas and london and the south easter said the new variant of the virus has led to an alarming spread of covid—19 across the south east, east of england and london. he said it was 70% more transmissible than the original virus. so the upshot is that the planned relaxation of coronavirus rules for christmas has been scrapped for those affected areas and in other parts of england, the gathering of three households for the feastive season, can now only take place christmas day. from midnight tonight, the tightest restrictions will be part of a new tier a category,similar to the last national lockdown in november, and it will affect areas such as kent, essex, bedfordshire, buckinghamshire and all 32 boroughs of london. people will be advised not to travel into or out of tier a areas, and the restrictions come in from midnight tonight. in tier a — a stay at home order will be issued to residents — although those who have to travel for education or work may continue to do so. social mixing will be restricted to meeting one ot

have been told to close from tomorrow after the council leader said coronavirus rates in the south east londonough have reached its highest level "than any time since march." a warning to borisjohnson — relaxing coronavirus restrictions this christmas will lead to a third wave of infections angela merkel announces tighter coronavirus restrictions in germany — to run through christmas until january the 10th. and in formula one, max verstappen wins the abu dhabi grand prix for red bull in the final race of the season and coming up in 30 minutes... the latest from the world of cinema and home viewing, in the film review with mark kermode. good evening. if you have just joined if you havejustjoined is if you have justjoined is welcome to bbc news. the brexit trade talks will continue beyond the deadline set for today — after the uk and the eu agreed their negotiators should keep talking. major issues are still unresolved but after a telephone call this morning — boris johnson and ursula von der leyen they said they would ‘go the extra mile‘. the prime minister repeated that a no deal scenario was

nearly 18 million people in london and south east england to move into stricter tier for restrictions from midnight. people must stay—at—home and nonessential shops have to close. for those in tier 4 it means the relaxation of rules that christmas has been scrapped and reduced to one day, the 25th, for the rest of england. we must be realistic. we are sacrificing the chance to see our loved ones this christmas so we have a better chance of protecting their lives, so that we can see them at future christmases. the new restrictions are due to a spike in cases that is being blamed ona spike in cases that is being blamed on a fast spreading new variants of the disease. the whole of wales is to be placed under lockdown from midnight with festive rules cancelled for all but christmas day. scotland reduces the five—day festive window from mixing with other households indoors to just christmas day itself, and imposes a strict travel ban between itself and the rest of the uk. borisjohnson has announced a new tougher level of coronavirus restriction in england, after scientists said a mutation

have been told to close from tomorrow after the council leader said coronavirus rates in the south east london have reached its highest level "than any time since march". a warning to the prime minister — relaxing coronavirus restrictions this christmas will lead to a third wave of infections. angela merkel announces tighter coronavirus restrictions — to run through christmas until january the 10th. now on bbc news it's time for the film review with mark kermode. hello, and welcome to the film review with me, mark kermode — rounding up the best movies available to view in cinemas and in the home. back in 2016, denzel washington produced, directed, and starred in a screen adaptation of august wilson's stage play fences, earning a supporting actress oscar for violet davis, alongside nods for best actor, best picture, and a posthumous screenwriting nomination for wilson. davis looks like an awards contender once again for her dynamite role as mother of the blues in ma rainey‘s black bottom — the latest screen adaptation of wilson's work on which washington again serves as producer. a—one, a—two,

the new measures in england, and at midnight tonight, so if you are currently at in the south—east of england, londont of england, you will now be in tearful from midnight, meaning nonessential shops will close here, hairdressers, james will close as well, in those areas, christmas bubbles have been scrapped. if you live in the west of england, christmas bubbles will go ahead but one day only on christmas day. in scotland, christmas bubbles are also being limited tojust day. in scotland, christmas bubbles are also being limited to just one day. but on boxing day, the whole of scotland, the mainland, will go into the top level of restrictions, level four. that means there will be significant curtailment of what you can do most of scotland as well. it's also worth pointing out that nicola sturgeon talked about a travel ban between scotland and england, she doesn't want anyone travelling from england to scotland over the next few weeks, and in wales there will be lockdown effective at midnight, so really fast moving, nothing changing in northern ireland yet but a huge day for the uk northern ireland yet

in itself, it is, i think, in london and the south—east. ndon and the south—east. in itself, it is, i think, taking what the prime minister, new information. but the data was pretty clear before this to have determined that relaxing rules at christmas was the wrong thing to do, and that should have been reversed. i am saying we had the data and may not have known about the new variant at the time, but had enough data to show that the last thing you needed to do was relax rules at a time when the infection was rapidly spreading and increasing the numbers of patients in hospital beds. good to talk to you as always. the chair of the council of british medical association, thank you. more on this new variant of coronavirus. government advisors say the mutation is now the dominant strain in the capital, as our health correspondent katherine da costa explains. hospitals in parts of london, kent and essex are coming under intense pressure. they are seeing a surge in new covid admissions, up by around a third in a week, after a sudden spike in new i

infections all schools in greenwich have been told to close from tomorrow as coronavirus rates in the south east londongh reach the highest level since march. police in lincolnshire have arrested two teenagers on suspicion of murder after the discovery a school boy's body. the cold war novelist john le carre, who wrote tinker tailor soldier spy, has died at the age of 89 following a short illness. hello and welcome to our look ahead to what the the papers will be bringing us tomorrow. with me are the chief business commentator at the independent, james moore, and the property and personal finance commentator, anne ashworth.. welcome back to both of you. let me bring you up—to—date if you are watching us from home on the headlines from the guardian. we've got a couple more papers and since the last hour, but we will begin with the the guardian. the pm and von der leyen vow to go "extra mile" writes the paper, saying there is renewed hope of a deal being struck within days. "we're into extra time" reports the metro — after the phone call between the two leaders today. the financial times claims hopes hav

scientists are concerned about the speed of the rise in infection rates in parts of london and the south—eastf london and the south-east. london probably doesn't need to go into tier 3 because otherwise we are going to just have even more problems, we're coming up to christmas and the relaxation of the rules for the christmas period, and then we are looking down the track had problems injanuary, looking down the track had problems in january, february. looking down the track had problems in january, february. parents and children arriving this morning at primary schools in greenwich what is now going to be the last day of term. parents at these schools were informed yesterday that they would be closing a few days early and switching to online learning where possible. what can we do? we need to just go on with it and get of the way. at least it would help the incidents, that's fine. it is too short notice to get any sort of child in place. so we will be taking the day off unpaid, coming up to christmas, which is not doable. people mix while they are dropping the kids at school so we can see th

the situation in the uk is precarious in many parts already, particularly the south—east and london.en the impact of the infections that will have occurred during mixing on christmas day. and unfortunately, thatis christmas day. and unfortunately, that is also rather sobering. given that is also rather sobering. given that picture, ijust want to say, look, i know new year is coming up, i know it is normally a time of great festivity and enjoyment. but you have just got to play your part i'iow. you have just got to play your part now. in bringing us back from this very dangerous situation that we find ourselves in. i will stop there, prime minister. thank you, jonathan, that is very helpful. stephen, anything to add from the perspective of the nhs? as the prime minister has said and jonathan showed you in the slides, high infection rates from covid are causing significant pressure on the nhs and that is particularly the case in those parts of a country where the new variant has risen, and that has led to a rapid rise in infection rates and again, as jonathan has shown you, high number

restriction in england, after scientists said a mutation of covid—19 was spreading rapidly in london, the south eastnd east of the country. the variant is said to be much more contagious but doesn't cause more serious illness. from midnight tonight, tier 4 restrictions will apply in all current tier 3 areas in the south east including london, kent, buckinghamshire, berkshire, and hertfordshire. that's more than 17 milllion people. in this new tier, a stay at home order will be issued to residents except for those travelling to work or for education. there will be no christmas bubbles. social mixing will be restricted to meeting one other person in an open public space. nonessential shops will close, along with personal services such as gyms, beauty salons and hairdressers. no one should enter or leave a tier 4 area. and there are also changes to the advice for those living in tiers 1 to 3 in england. the so—called ‘christmas bubbles‘ will be restricted to just christmas day. the advice is to remain local and not to travel internationally. our political editor, laura kuennsberg has the full stiry. an

we know it is very concentrated in london and the south—east but it is also now prevalent to a lesser parts of the country as well. and so a judgment needs to be made as to whether the tiered system is strong enough. london and much of the south—east is already in tier 4, with the highest level of restrictions, and now the neighbouring areas are at risk of moving up the tiers in coming days. this could potentially include parts of east anglia as well as hampshire and west sussex and other areas where the new variant of the virus has been identified could face more restrictions, too. government ministers have been keen to avoid or at least delay another national lockdown across england. but there have been discussions about whether even the toughest set of restrictions in tier 4 will be enough to get on top of the virus. and with hospital admissions heading towards their previous peak, if you think things are grim now, think again. the whole of wales has already entered another lockdown and if you live in mainland scotland or northern ireland, you will face tougher restrictions from bo

havering, in east london, has the highest covid rate in the city. now london and other parts of the southtions lancashire, yorkshire and others have had for months, including no pubs and restaurants — apart from takeaways. but as the capital heads into tighter restrictions, in just over a week's time, the christmas rules will come in. the tiers will stay, so pubs and restaurants will still be takeaway only, but it means londoners will be travelling across the country, mixing with their families. hiba was back on the stage for the first time since march. four nights of shows, now she's unemployed again, despite london's west end having the lowest covid rate in the capital. it was very, very emotional, a lot of tears, because we just don't know when we're going to come back again. so i think that was very, very hard, just before christmas. if we're going to be strict then we need to be strict across the board. none of us want this to still be happening and it feels a bit of a blowjust before christmas for this to happen. but rates are increasing in every borough across london. it'sjust goin

east london. nurses and doctors are incredibly stretched caring for very sick patients. no one should underestimate the impact the infection can have. one hospital in southatients. the queen elizabeth hospital in greenwich said it was working with health partners and patients were getting the care they needed. elsewhere in the capital, patient numbers continue to rise, with the variant of the virus found initially in the south east of england spreading more rapidly. accident and emergency departments reported intense pressure. i was on on christmas day, and it was wall—to—wall covid. so we see patients who are coming in who have covid symptoms, but we also see other patients coming in with other problems who turn out to be covid—positive. and between that, there is a great deal of difficulty getting those patients through into the wards. an unprecedented amount of work... the medical director at one big hospital trust spelled out what they were facing. things have been really challenging over the last few days. i suppose the best illustration for that is on christmas eve we had about 170 patients with covid across our hospital sites, and today, we have a

all schools in greenwich have been told to close from tomorrow as coronavirus rates in the south east london borough reach the highest level since march. police in lincolnshire have arrested two teenagers on suspicion of murder after the discovery a school boy's body. now on bbc news, from kenya's capital nairobi, ciru muriuki brings you the story of anti—apartheid leader, steve biko, who died in police custody in south africa. hello and welcome to this special edition of witness history with me, ciru muriuki, here at the national museum in kenya's capital, nairobi. this month we are featuring five incredible moments from recent african history. coming up, how tunisian women became some of the most liberated in the world in the 1950s. we find out about the history of great zimbabwe, the ancient stone city once the centre of an african empire. plus one of the world's largest refugee camps. and the kenyan pop song that became a global hit. but first, we go back to south africa in 1977 when the country was governed by a racist system known as apartheid, which discriminated against the black pop

she lived near the south circular road in south—east london — one of the capital's busiest roads.s admitted to hospital 27 times. today — in a landmark ruling — a second inquest into her death found that air pollution "made a material contribution" to her death. 0ur environment correspondent claire marshall has this report. ella was a healthy child before suddenly starting to suffer asthma attacks so severe she would be put on a ventilator. ella coughs this cough, an early sign of the damage being done to her lungs. we know now, without doubt, by air pollution. today's decision was the result her mother has been campaigning for four years. we've got the justice for her, which she so deserved. but also, its about other children still, as we walk around our city, with high levels of air pollution. the coroner found that levels of the toxic gases and pollutants and exhausts were way above levels set by the world health organization, and without doubt they contributed to her death. i wanted justice for her. i wanted the real reason why she went through what she went through. i hope th

east london. nurses and doctors are incredibly stretched caring for very sick patients. no one should underestimate the impact the infection can have. 0ne hospital in southt london has declared an internal incident because of the high number of covid patients. the queen elizabeth hospital in greenwich said it was working with health partners and patients were getting the care they needed. elsewhere in the capital, patient numbers continue to rise, with the variant of the virus found initially in the south east of england spreading more rapidly. accident and emergency departments reported intense pressure. i was on on christmas day, and it was wall—to—wall covid. so we see patients who are coming in who have covid symptoms, but we also see other patients coming in with other problems who turn out to be covid—positive. and between that, there is a great deal of difficulty getting those patients through into the wards. the medical director at one big hospital trust spelled out what they were facing. things have been really challenging over the last few days. i suppose the best illustration for that is on christmas eve we had about 170 patients with covid ac

in south—east london, the brown family have more childcare to juggle alongside other priorities.e children and i start a newjob next week and and i start a newjob next week and a secondary school. so i am concerned that kids are spreading it in schools. at the same time, i think their education is so important. and it is that balance thatis important. and it is that balance that is tough to get right, for families and politicians. the virus is striking back with a force strong enough to bring more destruction but there is determination to limit its impact. dan johnson, bbc there is determination to limit its impact. danjohnson, bbc news, watford. covid loves a crowd — that's the warning message from nhs leaders, who are urging people not to celebrate the new year with anyone outside their household. as the new variant of coronavirus continues to spread rapidly, 20 million more people in england entered tier 4, the highest level of restrictions. duncan kennedy reports. this is lincoln, beyond the fog, a place of cathedrals, castles and now covid's most severe restrictions. the cit

we've got a lot of cloud as well across london and the south—east to start us off, and some mist ande a few showers around, most of those towards the west. if you catch one, it could be sleety. certainly it's going to be a cold day for all of us with a top temperature in mid—single figures at best. through the night tonight, we are dry and largely we will be clear, so it'll be another chilly start to your wednesday but it will be off to a dry start. as the day wears on, though, things will turn decidedly tricky and quite wintry. we have an area of rainjust pushing into the south—west through your wednesday. as it meets the cold air above us, it could bring us some sleet and snow which will settle in some places. we already have an early met office weather warning for that. the timing, the placement will change. stay tuned for the latest forecast thoughts right here. i'm back with the latest from the bbc london newsroom in half an hour. plenty more on our website at the usual address. now though it's back to roger and louise. bye for now. hello, this is breakfast with louise minchin a

all schools in greenwich told to close from tomorrow as coronavirus rates in the south east london borough the highest level since march. police in lincolnshire have arrested two teenagers on suspicion of murder after the discovery a school boy's body. now on bbc news, it's the travel show. on the show this week... the panto survivors keeping the show on the road, the native american woman making waves in the grand canyon, the roman empire's sunken party town and how to run up a sand dune. it's tough. ijust keep thinking, relentless forward motion, just one step in front of the other. hello, and welcome to the travel show, coming to you from the festive windsor. now, in spite of the glimmers of hope we are hearing on the news, for many of us, travel is still impractical. but never fear, because we are here to bring you inspiration amid all these dark and gloomy nights. first, though... for britain's theatres, christmas can only mean one thing — panto! singing, dancing, comedy, romance and belting catchphrases. oh, no, it wasn't! children: oh, yes, it was! all based in a traditional fairyta

a council in south—east london has said it will comply with a government demand and withdraw a letteretail sectors are the hardest hit, as a record number of people are made redundant and unemployment continues to rise. now it's time for your questions answered. my colleaguejoanna gosling puts your questions to the experts on the move into the toughest covid restrictions for millions of people in england plus the discovery of a new variant of coronavirus. we can talk now to dr naomi forrester—soto, a virologist at keele university. i'm also joined by professor robert west, professor of health psychology at university college london and a member of the sage subcommittee on behaviour. we have lots of questions to get through, so if i could ask you to be relatively concise we can get in as many we can. coming to you first, naomi, paul asked where did the new genetic covid variant originate and how was it detected? that is a really good question. what we don't know at the moment is where it originated. we just know that it is around. we don't know if it originated in this country or wheth

the mother of a girl who died following an asthma attack in south—east london in 2013 has told an inquestts of dangerous levels of air pollution on her daughter's health. the coroner is being asked to rule that air pollution caused the death of ella kissi—debrah, who was nine years old — a finding that would make legal history. it has never been identified as a cause of death before in the uk. 0ur environment correspondent claire marshall reports. this picture of ella, two months before she died, is on display in the court room, as details emerge about the story surrounding her death. the coroner's court has already heard how she was exposed to years of dangerous, illegal levels of air pollution. coughing ella suffered for three years before dying. her mother, rosamund adoo—kissi—debrah, has fought hard to be heard. their family home was beside london's busy south circular road. they would walk to school along it. rosamund said, at the time, no connection was made between ella's fatal asthma attack and air pollution. but then a new medical report said there was a direct link. the high cou

you were brought up in a pretty white neighbourhood of suburban south east london.was from nigeria, your mum was white english. and you write very honestly and frankly and talk about the degree to which you were, in some ways, fearful of the blackness of your father, of the african roots, which for a long time you didn't understand. why was that a fear? well, if you look back to... i was born in ‘59, grew up in the ‘60s and ‘70s, as you say, in a very white part of london then, woolwich, it's not any more. and my father had arrived in 1949 and didn't really bring his culture with him and certainly didn't pass on his culture to us. didn't want to. um...yeah. he said he wanted us to assimilate. and i think back then you're talking about 60 years or so ago, people didn't really understand that if you want your children to feel at home in a place and, say, a parent, one parent is from an immigrant community, then, actually, it's really a great foundation for them to know about the histories of both their parents. to be very blunt about it, do you think your dad actually

all schools in greenwich told to close from tomorrow, as coronavirus rates in the south—east london borough highest level since march. police in lincolnshire have arrested two teenagers on suspicion of murder after the discovery a school boy's body. hello, very good evening to you. in a few moments will be joined viewers on bbc want with michelle hussein. best bbc one. the brexit trade talks will continue beyond the deadline set for today, after the uk and the eu agreed their negotiators should keep talking. major issues are still unresolved but after a telephone call this morning — boris johnson and ursula von der leyen they said they would "go the extra mile". mishal husain will be here in a few minutes with the latest national first, let's listen again to borisjohnson, who spoke after holding talks with ursula von der leyen, the european commission president, and with his cabinet. the idea was that, when we went out on wednesday, the hope was that we were going to be able to finish things off today, if there was a deal to be done. as things stand — and this is basically what ursula and i

concerns over relaxing uk restrictions over christmas as london and parts of the south—east of englandnter the toughest measures of restrictions from midnight, and a warning that a new strain of coronavirus could be linked to a rise in infections. but ministers insist that plans to relax the rules at christmas will still go ahead. many families will want to come together over the christmas period but that does not mean all the restrictions are lifted. people will still need to continue to act responsibly but we should trust people to do so. will you be changing your christmas plans? get in touch with me on twitter @reetacbbc or use the hashtag bbc your questions. the netherlands enters a strict second lockdown, with schools and shops shut for at least five weeks. england's education secretary threatens legal action after a london council told schools to move to online teaching to halt the spread of the virus. joe biden praises the strength of american democracy, after his presidential victory is certified by the electoral college. our democracy, pushed, tested, threatened, proved to be

of the top 20 virus hotspots in england, all but two are in the south—east. the londong, enfield and southwark, with case increases of more than 50% in the most recent week, and brentwood and thurrock in essex even more — around 80%. the health argument for tighter restrictions has been made on the basis of sharply rising case numbers, but there is of course an economic impact. tier 3 means bars, pubs and restaurants having to close to customers apart from takeaways and deliveries, and it should have been their busiest time of the year, especially in london. this restaurant only reopened recently after the lockdown. now they'll have to stop serving customers indoors again, and it's not clear whether there will be any compensation. it's a joke. we opened one week ago and we close down this week again. and it doesn't work like that. i'm sure if it goes like that, we are all going to close down and find a differentjob. there's been no change to the planned relaxation of the rules over christmas around the uk, though scotland's first minister made a plea for people to be ca

and for patrick vallance, 10—15% of the new variant is outside london and the south—east. eck outside of london and the south—east? check outside of london and the south-east? alas, robert, iwill just repeat what you have heard me say, many times. i have had great conversations with emmanuel, it is his birthday, by the way, that we have vowed to stick off brexit, because that negotiation is being discussed by the european commission, and that is quite proper. the position is unchanged. there are problems, it is vital that everybody understands that the uk has got to be able to control its own laws completely, and also that we have got to be able to control our own fisheries, and it remains the case that wto terms would be more than satisfactory for the uk, and we can certainly cope with any difficulties that are thrown our way. not that we don't want a deal, but the wto terms would be entirely satisfactory, and prosper mightily remains an extremely good description of life afterjanuary the 1st either way. it is probably worth adding that some of the reason why we have not s

south east. this means that quick and decisive action is needed. there is a strong connection between the increases we are seeing in london and parts of the south eastx, the south of essex, as well as the south west region. it really is important that we are working together, coordinating carefully across the region is to ensure that we act to control the infection now. specifically in london, we have seen increases in rates especially in the north east of the city connected to south essex. as well as in the south east connected to kent. but more recently, we are seeing exponential rises in a number of boroughs across the city. this is of concern because we know that as we see general increases in rates, it will follow that we will see increasing rates in those aged 60 and over at high risk of being hospitalised and staying from this infection. 0ver of being hospitalised and staying from this infection. over the past week, we have been escalating our efforts in london, increasing testing availability, strengthening campaign messages, working with community organisations to really engage with the hearts and minds of londoners and people living across

restrictions across england, tier a restrictions across england, tier a restrictions affecting london and the south—eastment ministers. they were discussing whether tier a restrictions needed to be extended outside london and the south—east and there was a feeling at that long meeting those areas close to those where the virus is most virulent might be vulnerable to moving up into the highest level of restrictions. also, as the chief scientific adviser warned, there is evidence the new variant of the virus being present in other parts, for example, a cluster around cumbria. people could find out pretty soon they are moving up, perhaps not even from tier three up to tier a but from tier two up to tier a to tier a but from tier two up to tiera in to tier a but from tier two up to tier a in some areas. the government said that it would review the existing restrictions on december the 30th and the fact discussions are taking place now suggest they are taking place now suggest they are concerned about the rate at which the virus is spreading and also they are concerned about cancelling people's christmas pla

that has emerged in the south—east of england in particular, and is driving up infections in the south—east of england and londonon of flights to and from the uk. the italian foreign minister had said —— has said that they are suspending those flight after the news about the coronavirus variant. italy nowjoins news about the coronavirus variant. italy now joins belgium news about the coronavirus variant. italy nowjoins belgium and benevolence as european countries that have now and flights —— the netherlands, because of that coronavirus variant. as we've been hearing, millions of people across parts of england are now living under the toughest coronavirus restrictions — tier 4 — as the government looks to contain the rapid spread of the new variant of the virus. similar measures have been introduced in wales, which has some of the highest infection rates across the uk. we can speak now to the welsh health minister, vaughan gething. thank you very much for being with us. thank you very much for being with us. just spell out for us if you would for those who have not read about the latest restrictions, what situat

an nhs trust in south east london is urging people aged 80 and above to get in touch with them to arrangeings college hospital nhs trust said vaccines were available and that people should call them to arrange an appointment. a spokesperson said any appointments not taken up — would be given to healthcare workers in most need. one of london's most famous night—time venues — cafe de paris — has announced it's shutting for good. the club has been open in the west end for 95 years and even survived a direct hit during the blitz. but it said in a statement last night it had "tried everything but the devastating effect of covid—19 in the end was too much." a couple rearranged their wedding injust two hours to ensure they tied the knot before london went into tier 4. chloe and jamie collins were due to marry on the 6th of september, but had reorganised three times due to changing coronavirus restrictions. they made it in the nick of time, and got married at 10 o'clock on saturday night at edgware united synagogue. i have never in my life felt so much love and felt how grateful i am to every sin

it's one reason for those tier 4 restrictions in london and the south—east of england.every day about what we do. we need to know what our risk is when we go about our day, and we need to take those steps to limit those risks. the virus may be more transmissible with this particular variant, and circulating in certain areas, but there are measures that can reduce the spread. the worry with any change to the structure of a virus is that it might make a vaccine less effective. so far, though, there is no evidence of that in this case. the hope is that a widespread roll—out of the jab will still be enough to put an end to this pandemic. jim reed, bbc news. dr katherine henderson is president of the royal college of emergency medicine, and joins me now. thank and joins me now. you forjoining us on bbc news. thank you forjoining us on bbc news. some suggestions that the new variant is 70% more transmissible. is this the right decision to go into tier 4? we have been calling for not doing the christmas relaxation for some time, so, yes, from my point of view, sadly, medically